Union Island
Union Island is part of the nation of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. It has a surface of 9 square kilometres (3.5 sq mi) and lies about 200 km (120 miles) west-southwest of Barbados and is within view of the islands of Carriacou and the mainland of Grenada, which lie directly south.[1]
 Union Island International Airport from the air | |
  Union Island  Union Island  Union Island | |
| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Location | Caribbean Sea |
| Coordinates | 12°36′N 61°26′W |
| Area | 3.5 sq mi (9.1 km2) |
| Length | 3 mi (5 km) |
| Width | 1 mi (2 km) |
| Highest elevation | 999 ft (304.5 m) |
| Highest point | Mount Taboi |
| Administration | |
| Largest settlement | Clifton |
| Demographics | |
| Population | ~ 3,000 (2012) |
| Languages | English, French, German |
| Additional information | |
| Time zone |
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| Official website | Travel guide of Union Island with street map of the town |
Clifton and Ashton are the two principal towns. The island is home to just under 3,000 residents.[2] The official language is English, but French and German are spoken by some merchants in Clifton as well.
The island has an airport, Union Island Airport, which has domestic flights to Saint Vincent and some of the Grenadines and international flights to Barbados, Carriacou, Grenada and Martinique.
Geography
Due to its volcanic silhouette, it is also called the Tahiti of the West Indies. The island is approximately three miles (4.8 kilometres) long and one mile (1.6 kilometres) wide. Surrounding islands are Tobago Cays, Mayreau, Palm Island, and Petit Saint Vincent. The highest peak is Mount Taboi - 999 feet (304 metres) above sea level.
Union Island has a semi-arid climate – its hills are not high enough to produce the rainfall that transforms Grenada's northern coastal areas into rainforest. During the dry season, December/January through June, the only source of water on the island is the water stored during the rainy season (June–December).
History
After the original settlers, Arawak and Caribs, the island has been in the possession of French and English slave traders and plantation owners. They brought hundreds of Africans to the island, mostly from regions of Africa that are now Nigeria, Cameroon, Angola, and Ghana. Sea Island Cotton was an important export crop – Sea Island cotton trees may still be found on the island — a good example can be found in the Bougainvillia complex beside the Anchorage Yacht Club in Clifton Harbour.
When slavery was abolished, people still relied on farming and fishing. As a result, a lot of men went to sea to work on freighters to support their families. Union Island was the centre of some political unrest in the late 1970s when a group of residents were in favour of secession from Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and merger with southern neighbour Grenada. The insurrection was put down by forces of the Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Government.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers spent much of a year working on Union Island and completed a new Coast Guard Jetty and shore office at the mouth of Clifton Harbour.
Economy
Today the yacht services business and tourist day-chartering business provide many jobs. There are also numerous boutiques and supermarkets, bars and restaurants, internet cafes and a dive operator.
There are several hotels and guest houses on Union Island, as well as schools, churches and a small health clinic.
The official currency is the Eastern Caribbean Dollar (XCD), though U.S. dollars (USD) and Euros (EUR) are widely accepted.
Telecommunications services are provided by Cable & Wireless which offers landline and wireless services (GSM). Digicel offers competing wireless services, including the network formerly operated by AT&T Wireless/Cingular. High Speed Internet services are provided by Cable and Wireless (512 kbit/s down, 128 kbit/s up). The island is connected to the Saint Vincent mainland by a series of digital microwave towers (through connections to neighbouring islands of Canouan and Bequia).
WiFi service in the harbour is offered through Internet Cafe-Clifton. Also through HotHotHot Spot, a service offered in Union through Erika's Marine Services, which is also offered in Bequia in the Grenadines, as well as Dominica and Antigua (both Falmouth and English Harbours and Jolly Harbour). Other computer and electronic support is also offered by The Internet Cafe — Clifton.
Local piers and docks earn money by renting their open space to tourists who have chartered sailboats or yachts, charging them by boat length.
In the middle of Clifton harbour sits Happy Island, a man-made island featuring a bar.
Ferry services operate between Clifton and Saint Vincent, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday on the MS Barracouda and the MS Gemstar. Ferry services also operate bi-weekly between Ashton and Hillsborough, Carriacou (Grenada) on Mondays and Thursdays.
Fauna
The common opossum, locally known as "manicou", can usually only be seen at the end of the dry season. Common Caribbean birds like the bananaquit are found on the island, as is the ubiquitous blackbird. A recent book (2006) on the fauna of Mustique, a neighbouring island, is an excellent reference.[3] The Union Island gecko, discovered in 2005[4] is endemic to the island and is currently listed as Critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.[5]
Tourism
The tourism industry plays an increasing role in Union Island's economy. A large number of yachts visit the island each year, often on their way to the nearby Tobago Cays. There are a number of local guest houses, including St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church, the Anchorage Yacht Club, and a small hotel at the Bougainvilla in Clifton.
Turtle Watch is conducted by the Union Island Environmental Attackers (UIEA), a local environmental NGO that works to preserve the clean environment on Union Island. Turtle Watching is done during the Turtle Closed Season, which runs from March 1 to July 31. The Closed Season is the period in which the catching or killing of turtles for consumption is forbidden.
There are also a number of bars and restaurants on the island.
A key feature of the Union Island region is the Tobago Cays National Marine Park. The Tobago Cays are a group of small, uninhabited islands surrounded by reefs. Snorkeling, scuba diving and swimming with sea turtles are offered.
The Union Island Sailing Club sponsors two sailing dinghies that participate in local regattae. The club is trying to help Unionites rediscover the sailing skills of earlier generations.
In recent years Union Island's tourism industry has suffered from a spate of crime against tourists and scam artists. Although the island benefits from a tight-knit community no longer found in most parts of the Caribbean and any crimes tend to be petty theft.
Culture
Easter is a big event on Union Island. Festivities take place in both Ashton and Clifton throughout Holy Week in a festival called "Easterval."
In late May, at the end of the dry season, a significant event is "the Maroon", a celebration which is a day-long affair beginning before dawn and lasting late into the night. The Maroon is known for its drums, dancing and plentiful food. These are meant to entice the Gods to bring on the rains.
Gallery
Maroon celebration in Ashton, May 2007
Areal view of a beach on Union Island near Clifton with the Union Island Airport in the background.
Harbour at Clifton, Union Island - Jetty of Anchorage Yacht Club
Memorial at central square of Clifton, Union Island.
Union Island Airport in Clifton.
Happy Island sits in the outer harbour of Clifton, Union Island
See also
- Union Island - a West Indiaman that sailed between 1794 and 1821
References
- (in French) Union Island (St Vincent)
- "St Vincent and the Grenadines, Population and Housing Census Preliminary Report". The Census Office, SVG Government. Retrieved 31 December 2015.
- Fr. Mark de Silva & Dianne Wilson; 2006; A Natural History of Mustique: A Field Guide to the Common Flora, Fauna and Marine Species, Mustique Company Ltd.
- Powell, Robert; Henderson, Robert William (2005). "A new species of Gonatodes (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from the west Indies". Caribbean Journal of Science. 41 (4): 709–715. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
- Powell R, Henderson RW (2011). "Gonatodes daudini (errata version published in 2017)". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2011: e.T194258A115333400. https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2011-2.RLTS.T194258A8889057.en. Downloaded on 15 February 2019.